My parents live in an AL facility. Can anyone tell me what they define light housekeeping?

I forgot to add they also did the laundry, washed and changed her sheets, and often organized her dresser drawers. They were so wonderful to her. I wish she could go back, but alas, now that she can't walk without help and has to be monitored, it is beyond what they can do in AL! I wonder if it depends on the AL, whether the room is cheaper, the less they do?

With regard to wash: in my mom's IL, they washed her sheets and towels in the washer/dryer in mom's unit. Mom did the rest of her laundry herself. And it wasn't the same food every day. For mom at home, that's what it had been, because she had Mild Cognitive Decline and could only remember how to put chicken thighs in the crock pot. IL was a Godsend for her and for us.

OMG that is horrible. They should be vacuuming the entire apt. Cleaning the Counter and for goodness sakes, yes the toilet and shower. I would speak to the manager. Maybe she needs to follow these cleaning people around. Something is wrong. How can an elderly person clean toilets and showers.

Vacuum, dusting, cleaning the bathroom and shower. Wipe down the counter tops. That is about it. They are not allowed to move anything when they dust, so they dust around things. Weird. Yes changing sheets. Washing sheets. Be careful with this one. They wash all sheets together. I would not allow that. Who knows what rash someone else has? It is VERY expensive to live in these places. I will maintain in my own home, thank you. If I loose my memory, I won't know where I am anyway, but as long as I am together up there, I will stay in my own home. That is expensive Babalou. I believe the one bedroom near my home is 3800.00 a month. ON the Coast of Oregon. There are 2 bedroom ones if a caregiver is living in and they are about 5000.00 a month. Then there are studios for less than the one bedrooms. So probably 2500.00 a month and it includes 3 meals a day. Boring...Same food everyday. I visit my friends there and they are always so happy to see me. But, I have always had older friends. Only problem, they are dying and that is SO hard on me.

My mom lives in IL in IL (hahahaha). That's Independent Living in Illinois. Her housekeeping is very similar to Babalou's mom. They clean the bathroom (tub, toilet, floors, sink), mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, vacuum, dust and clean the kitchen sink and cabinets. They would change the sheets, but I do that for my mom. Once a year there's a special annual cleaning that includes washing sheers, turning the mattress, etc. Sounds like your mom is getting the short shrift on cleaning, in my opinion.

In my mom's il, it was cleaning the whole bathroom, changing sheets, vacuum and dust, wipe down the kitchen counters, wash the kitchen floors, launder sheets and towels. Monthly fee for IL, suburban metro ny ( with three meals a day) was $5200. Per month in 2012.

House Cleaning Checklist:
mollymaid./cleaning-institute/schedules-charts-checklists/house-cleaning-checklist.

My mother's AL did whatever housecleaning needed in her room. Mom was very sloppy, throwing clothes on the floor, leaving dirty dishes under the sink, dropping crumbs on the rug. She's 101 and just didn't care. They cleaned up everything. I visited once a week, different days and a majority of the time, everything was clean and neat, rug vacuumed, bathroom clean. I would ask the AL what light housekeeping means. We paid a set rate for the room which included that, and separate fee for her personal care needs.

It has always meant: I don't do windows.
You are paying for it, can you make a list of what you need done, then see the manager.?

Roger that Cwillie.......

Windy, you need to be aware that for some people that toilet may need cleaning several times a day, that just ain't gonna happen.

You will find that housekeeping is one of the things that suffers when a facility is trying to cut expenses, staff will be pared back or have their hours cut without regard for how long it takes to actually do the job. There will be rooms that are a disaster and take far more than the allotted time, so other rooms will get shorted. If staff is on the ball they can concentrate on a deeper clean of a different area each time, so 15 minutes may be sufficient. If there are specific areas that are of concern I would talk to the administrators about it, they will either try to rectify the situation or inform you that that is outside the scope of "light housekeeping".

My folks are still home so my experience is just visiting several places, hear the sales pitch and reading the lit. Hopefully some more experienced folks will respond to your question. But yea, you shouldn't be cleaning the friggin toilet!

I did read the literature and all it says in light housekeeping and it is undefined!

This stuff should be well defined in the facility's literature. There are different levels of service and care at different prices. Read the paperwork then talk to management.